Candidate Spotlight: Sherry Keller for Roxana School Board

Published
4:06 pm CDT, Thursday, June 4, 2015

ROXANA — Sherry Keller is campaigning to keep her position on the Roxana Board of Education. She described herself as a “pastor’s wife” who, through years of missionary experience, has attained a “worldly view.”

Before a public forum for school board candidates held at the Rox Arena on Tuesday, March 17, Keller told the Telegraph about her achievements during her four years on the board.

“We’ve air-conditioned the school, got 1:1 computers for the kids and we’ve lowered taxes a lot,” she said.

She added that she could not think of any glaring issues in the district besides the labor dispute. She declined to comment on the labor dispute.

In the future, she said that she would like to implement the attendance centers which would house all students of the same grade level in the same building. She said she would like to see the Roxana School District continue to grow and improve.

During the forum, Keller expressed a tremendous amount of affection and appreciation for the faculty within the Roxana School District.

When asked at the forum what the most pressing issue within the district is, Keller said “unity.”

“Everyone’s number one issue is kids,” she said. “We need to get on the same page and work together.”

She also answered that Roxana’s poor test scores are not the results of poor teachers. Instead, she said that the breakdown of the family contributes most to a student’s poor performance.

“I think we have great teachers,” she said. “What can a teacher do when a kid is up all night listening to their parents fight? The breakdown of the household is what causes poor test scores.”

When asked about the amount of administrators in the district and if the district was “top heavy” because of it, Keller admitted there was a lot of administrators for the district’s size, but felt as if it worked.

“I really don’t know,” she said. “It seems like everyone is really busy. I know the principals are overworked. I know our district is small, though, and that most districts our size don’t have as many administrators.”

Another issue brought by the community to the school board candidates was class sizes. According to the question, a number of fourth and fifth grade classes in the district have more than 28 students. Keller thought that more than 28 students in a class was too many.

“I think 25 fourth and fifth graders is a good size,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to go higher than 28.”

When low morale was mentioned by the moderator, Keller said that respect would solve any issues within the district.

“We have to respect our teachers and let them know we appreciate them,” she said. “You can do away with a school and everything else, but if you have a good teacher, you can just have a good teacher and a bamboo tree, and a student will learn. We have to appreciate our teachers.”

Keller was asked by the moderator to give an example of a time that she had voted against the rest of the board. She said that she could not think of an example she could discuss.

“I went against the administration last week in closed session,” she said. “I cannot share it right now. Several times I’ve voted against everyone, but it’s been in closed sessions. We cannot discuss what happens behind those closed doors.”